Witchcraft
by NekoNoKitiKiti
Summary: Author NekoNoKitiKiti in the flesh! Dating Cross Marian! What will happen, none can tell! OCxCross; rated for precaution, but won't get 'there'... Hopefully my writing will get better with time on this one...
1. Chapter 1

Neko walked down the main street of the small English town, the sun set over the Atlantic not far in the distance, and the end of a typical February day came closer. To most, the sight of this child would be odd- a barefooted thirteen year old dressed in nothing but a thin, sleeveless, above the knee, white, and seemingly immaculate dress in the dead of winter- but to the residents of the tiny village, she was a normal sight. No, they did not consider her normal, only her occurances; she was a witch, an outcast, weird, but being accepted, even if only by tolerance in this village, made her stay.

She came to the village garden, conveniently placed in the middle of the village, and went to her haunting grounds: a young, sturdy oak tree which she had used as her bed since she had came to this town, or really, came back. But she was tired now, and didn't want to think about why she was on her own now; there would be a time for that later. So she climbed to the fork in the tree and curled into a ball, just as her namesake would, and slept.

* * *

She woke the next morning to the strange feeling she had been having lately; the feeling always lead her in certain directions, to certain people, and she always seemed to find that when she snapped out of this feeling, there was blood everywhere, but it didn't phase her, she was used to it now, and the killings didn't feel wrong, so she took them as nothing...

But today, someone found her before she could flee the scene; in a flurry, Neko ran as a mob of young women and teenage girls ran raging after her, shouting 'Murderer!' and 'Stop!' Before she realized what had happened, she had wished a broom into existence, and flew to safety; she wasn't called a witch for nothing...

* * *

General Cross Marian walked through the small village, unimpressed by its humbleness. The Order had spited him; a mission for the mere purpose of finding Innocence with no detected threat of Noah was not for a general! But here he was, on the stupidest mission of all time.

Suddenly a blur past him at high speed; he almost did a double take, the blur looked like a girl riding a broom, no that's what it was! Behind the blur was a mob of women; well, this would be easy to figure out...

As the women noticed him, they abandoned the persecuted and crowded around him. The women swooned over him, and the seemingly oldest girl came to the front. Cross began working toward his new goal.

'So, what was that blur back there?' He said to the leader of the pack, the girls behind her almost falling love-stricken to the ground at his voice.

'Oh, just a murderer, you don't want to be around that, a gentleman like yourself.' The girls continued in their swooning. He loved the attention. He was damn sexy; he deserved the attention.

But, his curiosity was piqued by the girl on the broom, so he needed to cut this short,' So where would she be should I want to find her?'

'The garden in the middle of town, but you'd be less bored if you stayed with us...'

He smirked, turned away, and began walking toward the middle of the village; he had what he wanted for now. 'Hahaha, don't worry about me; I'm used to 'em by now...'

* * *

He found the garden and began walking through, expecting to find a girl taking care of a plant somewhere, but he found her... Sleeping under a tree.

Cross shook her,'Hey, wake up!'

She spazed and ran up the tree. 'EH?!' She looked down with wide eyes at the stranger; she thought he was pretty, with his hair down to his waist, and his thin figure and broad shoulders. 'What do you want?'

'Do you know what Innocence is?'

'...No...Well, yeah, but ummm... Why?' She retreated slightly.

_...That sounded really bad..._He mentally slapped himself for what he had said, and turned the conversation to the right direction,' The broom you were riding, I was wondering if that was Innocence... May I see it?'

She held out her hand and it materialized; she wordlessly handed it to him.

It was Innocence; being a previous scientist for the Order, Cross knew how Innocence reacted when a person wasn't an accommodator... And being an Exorcist, he knew how it felt to be the accommodator, too... This was in the middle; it was weird, like it wanted him to use it...But it felt like it already had an accommodator...

When he looked back at the girl, the scene had changed; she had sprouted wings and was failing to make them work. She bobbed up and down in the unsteady and off beat of her white and light blue feathery wings, and Cross began suspecting the broom was not the source of the Innocence...

Finally, she fell out of the sky and landed safely in his arms, but as she landed, he realized what her Innocence had reacted to; a level one akuma had appeared.

Cross dropped her gently to the ground, as she was no longer capable of standing from how dizzy her flight had made her. He pulled out Judgement and nonchalantly took aim.

The gun shot snapped Neko out of her dizziness at once, and she automatically scrambled under the first thing she could find: the stranger that wore a trench coat. She clung to his left leg, and the coat settled around her.

But the darkness under the coat switched to light, and when she looked up, she saw the stranger looking down at her with a slight smile on his face.

'Never heard a gun before, I take it?' She nodded her agreement, detached herself, and stood, only to hear the angry mob approaching before her acquaintance did.

'Oiiiiiiiii... They're gonna call us both murderers nowwwww...' She complained.

As the mob came closer, Cross thought about the best plan of action; he decided what he would do, the kid would just have to deal with it...

Before Neko knew what had happened, she had been swept off her feet and thrown over the stranger's shoulder as he ran out of the garden and down the main street.

* * *

And thus is how my comics go as well; very, VERY bad transitions. NOT my best, at all, but wanted to get the story out for anyone who cares :3 It's actually very similar to the comic version I drew long before I wrote this... There will be more, if y'all want...


	2. Chapter 2

Neko watched the houses and people go by as she bounced up and down from the uneven footfalls of the stranger on the cobblestones. She became worried, as the more people who witnessed the pair running down the road, the more people began following them... Neko knew well why; while the town tolerated her, they still thought of her as a child, and a man running down the road with a young girl wasn't acceptable, even if she was the town witch.

'...More people are chasing us, can't you run faster? They're catching up...'

'I know that, pipsqueak, if I could I would!'

Suddenly, they made a sharp turn into an inn, ran up the stairs therein, and ran into a room. The stranger slammed the door and locked it.

Neko realized that the stranger had, contrary to his previous gentleness, thrown her rather roughly onto the bed so he could lock the door. She slid off the bed, and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, fidgeting with the hem of her dress and her fingers.

The stranger turned around. '.. Make yourself comfortable, we'll be here for a while...' Neko watched as he listened for footsteps in the hall, and finally decided to sit on the edge of the bed.

He finally came away from the door, and he settled in a chair by the window.

He began talking,'First, I think we need to be introduced. I am General Cross Marian, an exorcist for the Black Order. The Order has one purpose- to continue fighting The Millenium Earl, who terrorizes humanity quietly with Akuma, what we fought earlier, and what you say you can sense. Akuma are born from tragedy, and when someone mourns a loss alone, The Earl comes before them and asks them if they want to see the person they lost. If they say yes, he creates an Akuma with the lost ones' soul, and that akuma turns and kills the one who called it, causing more loss and tragedy. It's a neverending cycle, which is why we tell people not to mourn alone. But, exorcists fight The Earl, the akuma, and the Noah, who are the Earl's brethren, so humanity is safe. And so, we all have to have weapons to combat the akuma. Even though you aren't an exorcist, you have one as well, so you have an Innocence.'-at this the girl cocked her head in confusion; the man in front of her was not describable as 'innocent' or 'pure', you could tell that by the way he held himself when he walked, but, sensing confusion, he slightly backtracked-'N-not like your purity, not that sort of innocence, that has nothing to do with it! Innocence is the name of the element, and I'm really not sure why; it's just that way. But, it reacts differently than any other element, for the most part. It has three ways of interaction with the one chosen to use it, though, depending on the Innocence itself: it can be parasitic, an equipment type, or a crystal type. That last one is the only one that isn't obvious as to its interaction type; there hasn't been quite enough research on it. But, yours must be either parasitic or probably more crystal type, I would assume.'

'What if it's not an Innocence?'

'That'd be impossible, and I know how it feels to be around it, especially a strong one, like that one.'

'...But, I can't really control it. And, there's a voice in my head when I use it. It's a female voice, and she's always been there, or at least, since I started killing those things.'

'...A voice, eh? It doesn't surprise me that you can't quite control it, it can take a while to get used to.'

'Well, I'm not sure why I grew wings, I usually just kill them how ever. It's weird. They're weird. This is all just weird. I guess now that I know some stuff, I can try to act normal about it to the villagers.'

'You know I plan on taking you with me when I leave, right? Your style is underdeveloped, you don't use even close to the amount of power you could be, and you have to be acknowledged by people other than me to be an exorcist.'

'...You know, I don't really mind the thought of leaving. So, when and where are we going, General Marian?'

He considered something for a moment, then,'...Oh, no, you're my apprentice until further notice, and you'll call me 'Master'; 'General Cross', or 'General Marian' ain't gonna fly. We'll be leaving for France tomorrow. But, your name is..?'

'Ah, Neko.'

'...No last name? Odd...'

'Eh, I don't really like to have a last name.'

'Hmmm... You live alone don't you? There's no one you have to ask to leave?'

'Mmm. It's complicated, but my parents don't live in this country anymore. They gave their consent for me to be on my own, but this country's government still questions my freedom, if that's what you call it.' And, with that she shrugged her shoulders.

The conversation ended there, as they moved to opposite sides of the room, and spent the rest of the afternoon in relatively awkward silence. General Cross contented himself with drinking as he sat in a chair and surveyed the ground below through the window, and occasionally he would light a cigarette, much to Neko's disgust and dismay; of all the gross smells she found pleasant, tobacco smoke was not one of them.

* * *

When the sun began setting, and the General took notice of this, he spoke, breaking the long silence.

'Neko it's getting late, shouldn't you go to bed?'

'I guess so... But, there's only one bed in here... It would be wrong for me to sleep in it when it's your room... I could sleep on the floor, I'm used to it anyways...'

The General stood. 'You can't sleep on the floor, it's February! You'll freeze!' Looking out the window, he saw flakes in the sky. 'Look, it's snowing! You'll really freeze if you sleep on the floor now! The bed is big enough for the both of us. Now, go to bed!'

Neko awkwardly looked at her feet. '… … But... I... Umm... We can't... Be in the same bed together... I'm a girl an' you're a guy... T-that would be awkward...'

'I never said we had to cuddle or something; our body heat will keep us warm as long as we're in the same bed. Go. I'm not going to bed now, so it's fine.' He shrugged and sat back down.

While Neko decided she would lose the argument either way and went to bed, she thought that was even worse; she curled up into the bottom corner under the covers, as close to the edge as possible.

It took a long while for Neko to get used to sleeping in a bed, and before she had gotten comfortable, her new master climbed in the bed...

Cross had thought to leave his clothes on; his new apprentice was a girl, and she seemed very uncomfortable around him... _Maybe she'll get used to me, I'm not that intimidating..._ He decided to stop thinking about it, and to go to sleep. They would leave tomorrow, and once they got to the Order, they wouldn't have to be so close...

* * *

Neko awoke the next morning, and it took a few moments for her to realize where she was. Sunlight flooded the room, and she noticed an empty wine bottle on the bed beside her. '...So this is what hit me...' she muttered sleepily as she remembered being woken as the sun was just coming up and the room had been barely lit by the dawn; she had woken suddenly at something hitting her back, but went back to sleep when it didn't happen again. She looked across the room, and noticed a huge pile of liquor bottles on the floor, spreading from the foot of the bed to the door to the room and the door to the adjoining bathroom.

She sprang from the bed and began sorting through the bottles. 'Ahhh! Oi, I didn't turn him into a bottle, did I?! Master, Master~?!'

Cross popped his head out from the pile of bottles. 'No, I'm right here.'

Neko sighed her relief. 'Thank goodness, I thought I'd never find you if I had turned you into one...'

As he climbed out of the pile of bottles, Neko scurried under the bed. '...What's wrong with you?' he asked.

'...You don't have a shirt on...' Her reply was muffled by the skirt of the bed.

'God, you're so touchy.' He dressed himself the rest of the way; he had taken his shirt off when he became warm from all the alcohol he had consumed. 'There, I'm dressed, come out here so we can leave.'

'We're leaving already? Ok...'

* * *

They left the inn; the streets were white with snow. Neko thought about her new master. _I'm not sure how to feel about him, he's nice but he seems weird and awkward...I just hope I don't have to sleep in the same bed with him again, that was so awkward..._ Just as she thought this, a carriage was quickly approaching, and Neko, carelessly lost in her thoughts, was in the middle of the road, directly in it's path.

Cross noticed his ward wasn't behind him, as she had been, and looked out to see her in harm's way. He screamed her name to get her attention as he ran to her, and pulled her out of the way just in time.

Suddenly Neko was pulled close to someone... Too close. She realized it was her new master, as the smell of alcohol was heavy; strong arms enveloped her middle, and she felt one of his hands brush against her side. It was an accident on Cross' part, but Neko, taking offense, began squirming to get away.

Cross pulled her tighter; as touchy as his new apprentice was, she was gonna run when he let go...

And, he was right; as soon as she got loose, she was gone. Instead of them both getting on the earliest train, Cross had to chase Neko around the little village, through alleys and through crowds of people. He finally caught her, and almost had to bind her to get to the next town with her.

In the next town was the train station; they would ride the train until they came to a port town on the Channel, and from there ship to France. Which meant that Neko could possibly get her own room for the rest of the trip...

But, alas, Neko was dismayed when her master told her she would be staying with him again, for both. It wasn't his fault, it was the Order's; they were the ones who though 'How likely is it that, if he brings back an accommodator, it'll be a pretty girl? He can room with them until they get back.' And so, as much as he would have liked to satisfy his picky new apprentice, he could not.

Neko was pushed into their room on the train, and was disdained at how small it was; she had thought the room at the inn had been small, but this was awkwardly small. She and her master, whom she had yet to fully trust, would have to stay in such close proximity for hours...

Cross settled with lounging on his side of the room; he reclined in the corner by the window and put one leg on the seat beside him, one foot planted on the floor. Neko contented to sitting in the opposite corner, looking out the window. She felt the awkward in the air...

The voice suddenly decided to talk. _'Neko, do you feel safe with... him?'_

_Well, yes, a little. He doesn't seem unkind or... Too weird, anyways... He's a little awkward, but so am I, so what's it matter?_

_'But he gives off a certain... Aura, don't you think? It's not very appealing to me...'_

_Well, I guess he is a little intimidating; but most guys are intimidating to me so..._

_'Sigh... I just don't know if you should trust him...'_

_I'm sure it'll all work out. He's seems like a nice person. _Neko smiled as she concluded the mental conversation. The female voice had always helped her since she had been there; she had been the one to tell Neko she could make things materialize, such as her broom, or her weapon of choice, a short sword. The voice had even told Neko how to make medicine on certain occasions for friends, or hurt animals Neko had found. This was another part to her 'witch' reputation: she could make 'potions', which she made from specific herbs the voice told her about. The voice was a good friend, but Neko still thought on her own, and took her own advice before the voice's if she thought it best, like now.

'What are you smiling at? Something outside?' Her master asked with the same slight smile he had in the garden.

'No, the voice was talking to me; it's kinda rare when she does, so it's fun talking to her.' Neko continued smiling.

'Ah... She... Is she your Innocence, I wonder?..'

'I don't know... I'm still confused with the Innocence thing, really...'

'You'll understand it when we get to the Order... Hevlaska can explain it better than anyone, and she'll be one of the first people you meet.'

'Is Hevlaska an exorcist too?'

'... I guess you could say that... You'll see...'

After that, the train ride became awkward again, and they didn't speak or make any kind of contact until they were in London.

* * *

Well, that turned out better than I thought it would :3

Thank you to Where'stheBloodSnake for favoriting this, I needed the confidence boost to continue posting... :3


	3. Chapter 3

'Neko, stay close to me, London isn't exactly the same as your little hometown...'

Looking around, Neko saw what he meant; London was much busier in comparison. People ran everywhere, and carriages were everywhere too... Which meant Neko couldn't stare off into space... Seeing such a scary sight, Neko being a country mouse, she felt the urge to lock arms with her master so she didn't get lost, but her pride kept her from it; she was not going to be seen as capricious, even if she was slightly...

* * *

The inevitable happened; Neko got separated from her master, but his vibrant hair was easy to spot from where she currently was... Which was about ten meters above the ground on her broom. She had decided that the air was safer, after a pack of stray dogs had sensed her cat-like qualities and gave her a run.

Of course, there were shouts of,'Look! A witch!' and variations on this, but Neko didn't pay much attention to these at all. She followed her master on broom to the ship and landed just behind him when they were in front of the ship they would be on. Her landing actually startled Cross, or, more her sudden appearance startled him... He thought he was the phantom that disappeared and reappeared seamlessly...

They boarded, and Cross lead Neko to their room... One bed, great, Neko thought caustically. At least this room was almost as big as the room at the inn, but it was taken up by a little more furniture, so there was still less space in which to avoid her master.

There was a comfortable looking wooden stool in the corner by the window, so Neko sat on her knees and propped herself against the window, looking out into the Channel. It wasn't the first time she had been on a ship; she had sailed across the Atlantic a couple times, to America, with her family...

After a few minutes, she looked back at the room; it was nicely decorated... Something was missing, though... Her master had left. She went to the door, of course it was locked.

* * *

Cross had locked the door out of precaution; Neko wouldn't be able to get out, and none of the men they had past, whom Cross noticed had been looking at Neko, would be able to get in.

He walked down the hall to go above deck; he knew there was a bar there, and where there was alcohol, General Cross would be, given someone else was paying, which the Order was. He found the bar easily, and started with his typical wine.

A few moments later, a woman found her way into the picture. She made an open comment,'So what's a handsome gentleman like you doing by yourself?'

Cross turned to her. She was pretty; her blonde hair was pinned back, her bangs just long enough to sweep over her eyebrows parted on her left side, her makeup noticeable, but not overdone, her figure was thin and fairly endowed, sexy, really, she had on a tight dress that went to the floor, even as she sat beside Cross, and a thick feather boa and pearl necklace around her thin neck. She would have been considered a proper lady, if her dress hadn't have had a long slit in it, exposing her light skin from her hip to her feet. She looked to be in her late thirties, no older than forty-five.

Cross spoke. 'Heh, just relaxing after an...interesting last couple days. And what's a lady like you doing at a bar alone?'

'Hmmm, looking for someone new and... Fun.' Her flirtatious voice was invitation enough for Cross; she was sitting close enough to make physical contact with, and Cross took advantage of such. Instead of responding to her flirt verbally, he placed the backside of his left hand against her bare leg and started stroking her.

They sat drinking in silence as Cross gently stroked her leg; after a few moments, she asked a question. 'So, what room are we going to?'

Cross held his glass up to his smile, poised to drink after he spoke. 'Whichever is yours, sweet'eart.' He turned up his glass.

'Oh, we can't go to my room; my husband wouldn't appreciate it...'

Cross calmly swallowed his wine and returned the glass to the counter top. He reluctantly stopped stroking the woman's leg and pulled his hand away. He smirked. 'Sorry, baby, I don't think this'll work; I have enough death threats on my head from husbands and boyfriends as it is... I like getting to know a woman before doing her, anyway...'

As he finished saying this, a man, whom Cross correctly assumed was her husband, entered and began speaking to the woman. Cross slipped away while the husband enthusiastically spoke to his wife, unaware of what could have happened...

* * *

Cross walked back to the room. He opened the door and walked inside; he noticed something was off: Neko wasn't inside. He realized he hadn't unlocked the door before he came in; she had either picked the lock or he hadn't locked it as he thought he had. He looked at the lock; it wasn't picked... And he distinctly remembered locking it...

* * *

Neko had wandered down into the belly of the ship; the doors along the wall began crowding each other as she went farther, and Neko couldn't imagine how small the rooms were. She rarely passed anyone, and she didn't make contact when she did see someone. They were mostly men that she passed, shipmates and the like, and she avoided them readily.

* * *

Cross stormed through the halls looking for his ward; he wasn't sure if he'd beat her or not... He didn't want to hit a girl, but she was starting to piss him off like Allen used to: by doing something stupid. If he locked the damn door, then he meant for her to stay in the damn room!

* * *

Neko turned a corner and fell back after crashing into someone. When she looked up, she saw her none-too-pleased master; he had his arms crossed over his chest and from his nose up was lost in shadow. He loomed over her. Neko could tell he was pissed.

He slung her over his shoulder and stormed back to the room.

He roughly threw her onto the bed, and Neko had deja vu for the second time in the past thirty minutes.

He slammed the door shut. 'I don't know how you got out, but WHY DIDN'T YOU STAY IN THE ROOM?!'

'...I made a key; I wanted to look around.'

'... You made a key?... How?'

'It just materialized in my hand when I wanted out.' She went to the bedside table and picked up a small brass key. She held it in the air for him to see; his face gave away how shocked he was.

Once again, they awkwardly went to opposite places in the room and Neko, noticing the small bathroom, decided to take a shower.

* * *

The water was the warmest she had bathed in for a while. She loved water, but living on her own in a garden, and bathing in either a natural water source or at a friend's house, which was rare when she had one friend in the village who had an extremely difficult foster parent, was a love-breaking happening.

* * *

Cross noticed Neko had went in the bathroom and began thinking about her. How stupid did she have to be to not notice there were guys looking at her? He could only protect her when he was around... Which he wasn't when her stupid self left the room... He was glad he had taken a shining to her; having an extra apprentice wasn't an easy idea for him. Having a new something to look out for and teach was a slightly annoying thought...

* * *

Neko dried off and redressed. She was tired from the day; all the awkwardness of the train ride and the last few hours had made her that way, and she was going to bed, even if there was only one bed...

She walked to the bed. The covers were a lot softer than the ones at the inn; she pulled them back and after laying down pulled them over her head. She curled up as usual and fell asleep wondering what France would be like.

* * *

Cross went to take a shower when he heard Neko snore. It didn't take long, and soon he realized, after he had taken a shower, that his clean clothes were in his suitcase in the room... He was glad Neko was asleep... He went to his suitcase and quietly put on his clothes, which of course meant his pants and only his pants; he wasn't naked if he had pants on, and Neko would just have to deal with it if she didn't like it.

He turned off the light and got into bed. He faced away from Neko, the blanket covering her head had fallen when she had shifted earlier, and all he heard was Neko snoring softly... It was cute, in a way...

* * *

Neko woke in the middle of the night; it was normal to wake up several times a night for her, for she had always been a fitful sleeper, and tossed around a lot. She was more of a night owl, anyway, and would have rather slept during the day than the night, but other people's s schedules didn't allow her to sleep then... She felt something warm against her shoulder and turned her head slightly to see what it was, when she was met with hair in her face; it was soft and straight, therefore, not her own kinky, course mess. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see it had a red shade... Well, there was only one person it could be; as she thought this, said person nuzzled into her neck, causing her to go into paralysis mode. After he settled, she slowly moved away and curled up as she had the previous night, in the bottom corner of the bed.

* * *

Cross woke sprawled diagonally across the bed; he had at some point moved Neko's pillow to him, and he saw in the sunlight that flooded the room that Neko had went to her defensive position in the corner.

'Mmm, Neko, what are you doing there? You were sleeping like a normal person when I went to bed...' He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, or eye; it was difficult to get to his right eye, with the mask and all, which he kept on. She might be his apprentice now, but he still wasn't showing her his face...

'...You were nuzzling me...'

'...Nuzzling?'

'Yes, you nuzzled me; I woke up, you were on my shoulder, then you nuzzled into my neck; it was... Weird.'

'S-sorry, Neko, when I went to bed, I was facing the wall, I didn't notice I had done it... Well, let's go. You'll have your own bed and room by tonight; we'll be at the Order by about Four or Five if it's Noon now...'

Neko poked her head out from under the covers and began stretching; there wasn't much for her to do to get ready but to wake up completely, whereas her master, she had noticed, took almost an hour to get ready. In the two mornings she had been with him, both mornings he had taken a short shower, then brushed his wet hair, dried it with a towel, then combed it through; these all together took about thirty minutes, for while his hair was straight, it still seemed to like tangling for no reason, which reminded Neko of her own unruly mess. The next ten minutes would consist of him deciding on and changing his clothes, and the last about ten minutes would be final things, like brushing his teeth and putting rebellious bang hairs in their rightful place. Neko had never seen a man that was so vain; she thought it was interesting.

* * *

They left as soon as her master was ready, and Neko found that Paris was just as crowded and annoying as London. She was still confused as to where they would go from Paris, and her master refused to tell her the rest of the route. He would say,'We're going to headquarters, that's all you need to know.' if she asked, and would ignore her if she persisted.

Her master kept her beside him this time instead of letting Neko wander behind; if she started dragging behind, he'd gently grab her by the elbow or the wrist and pull her through the crowd back to his side. The one thing he had told her was that a good idea would be to not act like a witch, i.e., not riding her broom. Neko figured this was the reason he kept a closer eye on her here.

After a while of walking, Neko began to slowly realize her master had no intention of stopping in Paris, therefore, she wouldn't be able to find him later if she lost him—another reason he might have kept her close, she thought.

They turned onto a shady road ragged with trees and underbrush on the sides, and when Neko thought it was shady, it wasn't the good kind of shady that you wanted from the trees on a hot summer day, it was the kind if shady that, quite frankly, matched her master's aura that the voice in her head warned her about. It was dark, mysterious... And slightly inviting to her... Slightly... Only slightly... Not her master, the road... Of course her master wasn't inviting, he was weird and awkward, not inviting at all...

She shook her head to clear it, and thought more about how dangerous the road might be...


	4. Chapter 4

After they were a little ways into the dark forest, Cross began talking to Neko.

'...So, no civilization is around...Or at least, not here, immediately around us...'

'...What about it? That's...kind of creepy when you think about it...'

Cross stopped and Neko stopped just ahead of him. He spoke under his breath,'...Sorry, this might hurt...'

And Neko felt something hard hit the back of her head; she screamed and fell on the ground.

'OW! That hurt! What're you tryin' ta do?! Kill me?!'

'...Well...I was trying to make you black out...'

Neko rubbed the back of her head as she glared at him. 'Why?! And what's that calm look on your face, eh?! Were you just gonna leave me on the side of the road? Tired of me already?'

'No, I was going to carry you... You've seen how awkward I am, and I didn't want to answer all your questions when we got there... Wh... How... How did that not knock you out anyway?...' He crossed his arms over his chest, pondering.

'I don't know, I have a high resistance to illness and damage in general...'

'...I guess that could be due to your Innocence... Let's get going again, the sooner we get to the Order, the sooner we can see about that.'

'Not gonna try stabbing me in the back on the way, are you?.. Well, it's not the Ides of March, I'm luckier than Caesar, aren't I, Brute?' She said as she stood up and brushed herself off.

Cross sighed. 'No, just don't ask me a bunch of questions when we get there, I hate that place enough, and I don't want to think about it...'

'If you hate it so much, then why go back?'

Cross stopped ahead of her this time. Neko saw him sigh heavily, and she had to step closer to hear what he said. '...what I mean when you've been there for a while...'

Neko left it at that. This place seemed weirder than her companion, it seemed to even freak him out a little, so she simply dropped it.

They continued down the dark road until they reached a small strip of coastline; the beautiful day it had been while in Paris had disappeared, and a gray, foreboding, clouded sky had replaced it. Neko's master seemed unchanged by the scenery, as if he was used to it.

Much to Neko's surprise, a long, shallow boat came up to the shore, but the most surprising part was that there were people in the boat. Lovely, maybe these people would be much better conversationalists than her quirky new master, and hopefully a little less... Violent...

* * *

But, Neko felt stupid for believing she would find someone to talk to; these men were even worse than her master, with their somber faces and dead quiet. The only contact had been to ask 'General Marian' who 'the girl' was, and Neko had actually snickered at his response, that being 'My newest apprentice, but I guess I'd have to spell that out for you, since you guards wouldn't know an Innocence if it,oh, I don't know, shot you in the face...' It was even funnier to Neko that he had put emphasis on the 'shot you in the face' part, but it was apparent that all the guards knew quite well what his Innocence was, and quelled in fear as he said it.

The one thing Neko did like about the boat ride was that her master had decided to sit in a proximity not too close, but close enough so that she could talk to him if she wanted.

But, suddenly, Neko became confused and she found herself staring up at her master as he pulled her by the hand, trying to get her out of the boat onto a stone platform in front of a huge wooden double door lit by two torches on the wall. The torches only reached so far with their light, and all around was pitch black except for the lit door.

'Neko, we don't have all day, get up here.' She stood up and her master pulled her again, this time onto the platform. The guards opened the double doors, and the detached party walked inside.

The lighting inside was barely better than the light outside; it was still dim and gloomy. Neko was starting to think she understood where her master was coming from...

The guards all left to attend their posts, and once again Neko and her master were left alone.

'Neko, stay close to me; you go down the wrong path in this place, you might as well be going to Hell... Though, then again, Central is worse...'

'Central? Are there other parts to the Order?' She caught up to him when she noticed she had been lagging behind and slipped her arm into his, interlocking them. If one of these paths lead to Hell, she wanted to stay by her master; he didn't seem to want to go there any time soon...

Cross had been taken slightly by surprise at Neko interlocking arms with him; the teen hadn't shown much interest in being close to him, let alone touching him... Though, the inside of HQ wasn't all that inviting, and if Cross were a teenage girl that had just been told the path to Hell was a few footfalls away, he would hold onto the most familiar thing around him too...

'Yes, there's one headquarters for each continent, and Central resides in the Vatican; the European Headquarters, the one you're standing in, is the main one, and keeps the Exorcists that aren't on a mission.'

'Keeps them? Sounds like a cage...' While Neko meant this in jest, her master was not amused.

'Trust me, it is.'

Neko was dumbfounded. 'Wow, you really hate this place, it was a joke...'

Neko noticed the lighting improve a bit, an she saw people walking... Well, everywhere. There were more guards, men in lab coats, people in tan trench coats, and occasionally, there would be someone in a black jacket in silver trim pass by, looking at her and her master, with what looked almost like hope and joy on their face, that is, unless it was the one with a black ponytail; he seemed to hate and disregard everything as he stormed up the hall past them. Neko made a mental note to ask what his problem was when she met him, only in a nicer way than her mental note stated.

They walked up several flights of stairs, and finally reached a door. Her master broke away from her hold, almost reluctantly Neko noticed, and pushed the door open without even knocking.

Neko's OCD immediately kicked in as she heard the door shut. Papers were scattered from floor to desk to wall, and books were stacked on the floor instead of being neatly in their places in the bookshelves.

'Haha, Komui, I think my apprentice wants to wring your neck, either that or she's about to pass out from looking at this mess.'

An asian man emerged from behind the desk. 'Cross, don't you know how to call every once in a while? Levellier was saying he'd come back if we didn't hear from you...'

Neko's master pushed a slew of papers off what turned out to be a sofa and motioned for her to sit beside him.

'Hmph, I'm not surprised. That bastard would do anything to get me locked up for heresy.'

'Well, we really were worried you'd ran off again...'

'You're not my mother, stop worrying about me.'

'Anyways,' the asian turned to Neko,' What's your name? We can't just call you Cross' apprentice.'

'Eh, everybody knows I call Allen 'Idiot Apprentice', there'd still be a difference.' Cross had slouched into the sofa as he had on the train and had propped his feet up on a pile of heavy looking books.

'My name is Neko, I don't have a last name.'

'Mmm.' The man smiled. ' I'm Komui Lee, the director of European Headquarters. Its really too late to do a physical examination, but you can still fill out your paperwork, and really, there is enough time to check your sync rate.'

'Sync rate?'

'Synchronization rate. Its how well your Innocence is controlled.' With this, Komui stood and walked to the door.

Cross stood as well, making Neko follow suit, and spoke. 'Don't get your hopes up for a natural, Komui, her Innocence is strange to say the least; she's got the potential, but she's not able to control big stuff yet.'

Komui turned to look at Cross with a confused look on his face.'...Big stuff? I don't understand, Cross.'

'Heh, the kid can summon a sword or something in a second, but you add wings, and she goes wild.' He looked at his apprentice and smirked.

'Well, let's just get her to Hevlaska, she'll know how to let her Innocence appear; if its parasitic or crystal, that'll probably fix a lot of the problem.' And with that, the three stepped on a platform that had appeared in the middle of the tower as they were in the office.

* * *

Neko wanted to know just how big this place was! It seemed like forever before they reached the bottom... And when they reached the bottom, Neko wasn't sure how to react at all.

Sensing his apprentice was about to flee, Cross grabbed Neko by the arms to keep her still. 'Neko, Hevlaska is the least of your worries; she's just going to check your Innocence and tell us how synchronized you are.'

'Ahh, I like the Akuma better! I like the Akuma betteeeeeeer!' She sobbed as she struggled to get free.

'Neko, it doesn't hurt.'

She looked over her shoulder to give him a menacing glance. 'That's what doctors say about shots.'

His face contorted evilly. 'Do you want me to give you a shot so you won't think about it?..'

They glared at each other for a minute, then Komui decided it was time to break them apart... He pushed them apart, breaking their eye contact, and pulled Neko towards Hevlaska a little bit.

'Hevlaska is an Exorcist, Neko, she keeps the unused Innocence safe, as well as gives the relationship between an accommodator and their Innocence a number so they can more or less visualize their progress. She's a valuable asset, and she's not the weirdest that you'll see or hear about.'

Neko calmed herself and went closer to Hevlaska. She thought the huge Exorcist was pretty; she still had a face similar to a human, and the transparent white tendrils on her head reminded Neko of long, feminine hair. She had scales of the same transparent color, and Neko took a liking to her after she got past her size.

Hevlaska picked her up gently in her transparent hands and held her to her head. Neko reached out; Hevlaska's ghostly body was... Squishy! And soft! Neko smiled sweetly as Hevlaska giggled.

'Stop, little one... That tickles...'

Hevlaska began counting in the normal way she did when indicating synchronization... But stopped at 23 percent...

Cross and Komui visibly cringed. Cross felt like he was going to pass out; he'd been traveling with something so unstable for almost three days!

'Neko, an Innocence at that low a level could kill you!' Cross was close to panicking; he'd seen higher levels than that completely destroy a human body...

' I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it will if we don't separate them...' Komui was calm; he might have been panicking inside, but panicking outwardly would only make the problem worse at this point.

Hevlaska placed Neko back on the platform and asked Neko where her Innocence was.

'I don't know, its just kinda there.'

'Hmm... Let me... Try something...' Hevlaska reached back out to Neko, but a blinding light flooded the room.

As the light left, Cross and Komui beheld the sight, flabbergasted.

Neko was snuggled in the tail of a giant white wolf, whose shoulders came to Cross' middle when it stood. A voice suddenly shook the platform.

'DON'T TOUCH MY MASTER!' The voice was authoritative and... In a female register... An alto range, similar to Neko's lower tones...

'It... Can't be...' Hevlaska was stunned.

Komui turned his head up to face her. 'Do you know what's happening, Hevlaska?'

'Its... A new type... Of Innocence...Or one...That I haven't seen...In a long time, at least...'

'A new... Type?' Komui and Cross blinked in accordance. Cross spoke up. 'Elaborate, please...'

'What I like to call... The Independent type... Of Innocence... It can act without a host or accommodator...'

Cross grimaced at the information and spoke under his breath. 'Apocryphos...' He spoke up. 'So her Innocence is sentient?..Then why is it reacting with Neko if it's independent?'

Hevlaska paused to consider. '...To gain power...'

The voice spoke again. 'If you want to know about me, then ask me yourself, not someone else.'

Cross began talking sarcastically, expecting the voice to falter. 'Alright, you must be the voice in Neko's head, aren't you? What's the big idea, not allowing her to sync with you if you're the one that chose to have an accommodator?'

'To gain power, as Hevlaska said. Having an accommodator isn't a hindrance, it allows both of us to completely max our power. And I'm not like the other Innocence, I won't hurt Neko simply from a slow reaction.'

'Hmph, don't let it go to your head...' Cross was wary of Apocryphos' power, and didn't want to even think about his new apprentice becoming like that...

Just as quickly as the wolf had appeared, she gently slid Neko off her tail, and vanished, but her presence was still apparent, and she spoke one last time before allowing herself to completely disappear. 'I don't have enough energy to keep going... Don't touch my master, especially you, gunslinger... I don't want to find a red hair on her, ever...' And she left them alone.

Neko was curled up, sleeping peacefully, as if nothing abnormal had happened. Cross went to pick her up, but Komui stopped him.

'Cross, she said for you not to touch her, are you sure that's a good idea?'

'She's a sentient Innocence, I'm sure she knows Neko can't walk out of here herself right now, and I'm not leaving her here to be cold.' Cross continued to her and knelt down beside her. He put a hand on her back, and was about to lift her onto his shoulder, when Hevlaska spoke.

'Cross Marian...'

'Yeah, Hevlaska?'

'Her synchronization rate... Is different than... Normal. Keep... An eye on her... Progress and don't... Let her go over... One hundred...'

Cross looked up from his apprentice. 'But she'll never have control over her Innocence if we don't let her increase her synchronization.'

'Cross, if she reaches one hundred... She'll destroy... Everything...'

Cross sighed and spoke under his breath. 'Geez, what is she, the Exorcist version of Nea?'

And with that, he carried his apprentice to her new room.

* * *

Cross awoke the next morning to his dreary room; while the furniture was lavish, he had no windows, and he had scarcely cleaned the room since he came back, he had been too busy sulking and cursing the higher ups at Central to clean, and had only gotten up the empty bottles. The cobwebs and dust were still present, as well as the drawing on the wall and the pocket knife he had drove into the table, also from a fit of rage about Central. And the mushrooms... How mushrooms had grown in his room was beyond what he wanted to think about...

As he stretched, his foot bumped into something under the covers, and he glanced at the side of the bed by the wall; he suddenly turned to face her.

'What are you doing here?!'

Neko shrunk under the covers, hiding her nose and downward. 'Sleeping...'

'Well, why are you in my bed, you have your own!'

'My room is creepy...'

'And this one isn't?!'

Neko moved the cover from her face and gave an unsure look. 'Well, its less creepy when you're in here...'

Cross thought for a moment, then added,'... Its still pretty damn creepy.'

After a few more moments of silence, Cross smirked. He hadn't planned on Neko being in his bed again... He turned to face her as he spoke, still smirking.

'You know... I'm completely naked.'

Neko visibly tensed, then she shakily crawled out of the bed and staggered to the door, while Cross chuckled at her reaction.

With Neko gone, Cross got up and took the hour necessary to make himself presentable, and went out to begin his typical Order-hating day.

* * *

Well, The tower is supposed to be like in the anime, if that makes it more clear :3 I didn't know how to explain the platform to Hevlaska or the way into the tower either, so, yea...

So, the couple-like quarrels start...


End file.
